Latest news with #OperationMidnightHammer
Time of India
39 minutes ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Donald Trump strikes Iran: How India got its nukes – and defied US and other nuclear-haves
There's a running meme on X, the hellhole formerly known as Twitter, where a doctor asks a patient: 'Do you have a history of mental illness in your family?' To this, the patient replies: 'I have an uncle who believes Iran is close to a nuclear weapon for the last 50 years. ' Perhaps that's why Operation Midnight Hammer – a blow-by-blow remake of Top Gun: Maverick – was carried out with such haste that even half of Donald Trump's base were still railing against it as the bombs dropped on Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan. While Iran's Godot-like wait for nuclear weapons continues, it's illustrative to see how India, a nation that didn't evoke very warm feelings from Uncle Sam in the past, became a nuclear superpower. How did a newly freed, partition-bruised, socialist-leaning, and largely illiterate country go from famine queues and imported milk powder to becoming one of the world's most improbable nuclear powers? The truth is that politicians of various vintages played a part, irrespective of their worldview or political leanings. Every one of them was of the opinion that the Ayatollahs of Potomac (a delightful term coined by TOI legend K Subrahmanyam, the father of the current external affairs minister) couldn't be the only ones with the power of the sun in the palm of their hands. As George Fernandes, the erstwhile Defence Minister of India in the Vajpayee government, summed up this grit: 'I am not a former socialist; I am a socialist. I am not a former pacifist; I am a pacifist. I am even today an anti-nuclear weapon man. But as a defence minister of the country, I will do whatever is best to protect its border, and if that means nuclear bomb, then why not?' When pressed on how one could do so at the risk of contradicting oneself, Fernandes dug deep into the Lord Krishna rationale that one's dharma trumps all contradictions, pointing out: 'Yes, even at the cost of contradicting oneself, even at the cost of dying. If the security of the country requires me to die, I shall die. It's about being realistic. It's about being patriotic.' While with the benefit of hindsight, it might seem inevitable that the land that gave the world the Bhagavad Gita would come up with nuclear weapons, here's the tale of how it went down. The Science Segue What is a nuclear weapon — and why do countries want one? Let's say you haven't seen Oppenheimer , skipped physics class, and think 'fusion' is what happens when you have tandoori gravy momos. To understand nukes, we need to rewind to 1905, when a wild-haired Swiss patent clerk named Albert Einstein wrote four papers that changed science forever. One of them suggested that mass and energy are two sides of the same coin. A few months later, he dropped a tiny but terrifying equation: E = mc². That means energy equals mass times the speed of light squared. Since light travels really fast — about 300 million metres per second — squaring it makes even a small amount of mass release a huge amount of energy. So, how do we turn that into a weapon? That's where nuclear physics steps in. Certain heavy atoms like uranium-235 or plutonium-239 are naturally unstable. If you shoot a neutron at them, they split — releasing heat, radiation, and more neutrons. Those neutrons hit other atoms, which split too. It's called a chain reaction — kind of like a viral WhatsApp message, but instead of arguments, you get a mushroom cloud. That's how atomic bombs work. The ones dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki used two designs: Gun-type: smash two pieces of uranium together I mplosion-type: use explosives to compress plutonium until it explodes Both use Einstein's idea: a little mass disappears, and a huge burst of energy takes its place. There's also the hydrogen bomb, which is even more terrifying, but beyond the scope of this piece. By the 1960s, nuclear weapons were the privilege of a select five—America, the Soviet Union, Britain, France, and China—enshrined as permanent members of the global atomic aristocracy, the kind that liked to invade Vietnam in their spare time and host disarmament conferences in their downtime. There is something about nukes and their miasma. Once you have them, you don't want others to get them. You start doing everything in your power to stop anyone else from joining this super-exclusive club, because deterrence is always more comfortable when it's a monopoly. And then in 1974, India came knocking—with Smiling Buddha, gatecrashing the party with a silent explosion in the Rajasthan desert. If Israel was the nuclear sphinx, India was the grinning intruder who didn't wait for an invitation. Act I: Nehru's Noble Atom and Bhabha's Quiet Calculations How did a socialist, beggared and non-aligned country acquire nuclear weapons? It all started with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the Fabian socialist who wasn't beyond making a Faustian deal if it was for the nation's betterment. While he publicly championed atomic energy for rural electrification, privately he laid the groundwork for a weapons programme. Enter Homi Jehangir Bhabha—part physicist, part institution-builder, all ambition, played with élan by Jim Sarbh in the heavily fictionalised Rocket Boys, whose cheekbones are capable of setting off a different sort of chemical reaction. A Cambridge-trained genius with a velvet accent, Bhabha envisioned a self-sufficient Indian nuclear complex. He set up the Atomic Energy Commission in 1948 and Trombay's Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) soon after. His three-stage nuclear plan was audacious: heavy water reactors for plutonium, fast breeder reactors for more fissile material, and eventually, thorium-based systems. In 1955, India obtained the CIRUS reactor from Canada, with heavy water courtesy the United States—both under the Atoms for Peace programme. It was a masterclass in strategic procurement. Act II: The Dragon Strikes, the Buddha Smiles Enter the dragon. In 1962, Chinese troops stormed Indian posts in Ladakh and Arunachal. The result wasn't just military humiliation; it was psychological trauma. Nehru aged a decade overnight. And two years later, when China tested a nuclear bomb in Lop Nur, India realised it wasn't just behind—it was vulnerable. And then came the prodigal daughter. Indira Gandhi had no qualms about the world or any delusions about power. By the early '70s, the scientific community—led by Raja Ramanna, P.K. Iyengar, and M.R. Srinivasan—had weaponised the plutonium harvested from CIRUS. On May 18, 1974, India conducted its first nuclear test in Pokhran, Rajasthan. Codenamed Smiling Buddha, because what better name for a nuclear bomb than the progenitor of peace, the device yielded around 8 kilotons, billed as a 'peaceful nuclear explosion'. Canada fumed and threw a Trudeau-level fit. The US imposed sanctions. But much like she did when Richard Nixon threatened her during the Bangladesh Liberation War, Indira Gandhi didn't flinch. Act III: Recessed Deterrence—Weapons Without Words From 1974 to 1998, India lived in nuclear ambiguity. We had tested a bomb—but never declared a doctrine. This era, later dubbed "recessed deterrence", saw India perfect the art of silent readiness. Prime Ministers like Morarji Desai were openly anti-nuclear. Others, like Rajiv Gandhi, were more nuanced—calling for universal disarmament while funding missile programmes. In this period, India commissioned the Dhruva reactor for weapons-grade plutonium. Ballistic missiles like Prithvi and Agni were tested under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme, overseen by Dr. Abdul Kalam. Still, New Delhi avoided another test. The 1985 NPT Review Conference slammed the door shut on India's membership. But India refused to sign a treaty that said: 'You can't have nukes, but the P5 can.' Act IV: Narasimha Rao 's Nuclear Poker By the 1990s, India was ready. And P.V. Narasimha Rao, India's philosopher-king of pragmatism, knew it. In 1995, with the Clinton administration distracted by Yeltsin's vodka diplomacy and Pakistani warlords, Rao greenlit preparations for Pokhran-II. Shafts were drilled. Scientists were mobilised. Dr. Kalam, Dr. R. Chidambaram, and their teams stood by. Then, American satellites picked up movement. The CIA raised alarms. A New York Times exposé spooked Washington. Clinton dialled Delhi. Rao, deadpan as ever, stonewalled. The tests were paused. But he didn't stop the programme. Instead, he ensured everything stayed intact—ready for a more audacious successor. As legend has it, Rao whispered to Atal Bihari Vajpayee before leaving office: 'Everything is ready. You just have to press the button.' Rao never took credit. But when the mushroom clouds rose in 1998, they bore his blueprint. Act V: Pokhran-II—India Goes Loud On May 11 and 13, 1998, India conducted five nuclear tests. Codename: Operation Shakti. This time, it wasn't a 'peaceful' explosion. It was a declaration. Fission and fusion devices were tested. Thermonuclear capability was claimed (though some scientists later debated the yield). Prime Minister Vajpayee announced: 'India is now a nuclear weapons state.' Sanctions came. Condemnations followed. India shrugged. The team that delivered this feat: Dr R. Chidambaram – chief scientific coordinator Dr. Abdul Kalam – DRDO's key missile man K. Santhanam – test range commander Anil Kakodkar, V.S. Arunachalam, S.K. Sikka – technical leads Pakistan tested six devices in response. South Asia was officially a two-bomb region. But India's message was clear: deterrence, not domination. Act VI: From Outlaw to Operator—The Indo-US Nuclear Deal Having proven its capabilities, India now wanted respect. In 2005, under Manmohan Singh , India signed the Indo-US Civil Nuclear Agreement with President George W. Bush. It was historic. For the first time, a non-NPT country gained access to civilian nuclear trade. The deal was backed by the US Congress, the IAEA, and the NSG. It marked India's transformation from global pariah to trusted partner—without dismantling a single warhead. Critics cried foul. Proponents hailed it as a realpolitik victory. For India, it was simple: we earned the bomb. Now we wanted the fuel. Epilogue: From Fallout to Future The bomb was never the endgame. It was the insurance policy. A radioactive reminder that India wouldn't be bullied into compliance or bribed into silence. The scientists were the magicians, the politicians their illusionists. But behind them stood a civilisation that never wanted conquest—only the right to decide its destiny. From Bhabha's lab bench to Vajpayee's launch pad, India's nuclear odyssey was built on a foundation of paradoxes: peaceful atoms turned potent, idealism wrapped in pragmatism, and restraint forged through power. Today, India's nuclear arsenal isn't about posturing. It's about posture—calm, calculated, credible. We built the bomb not to drop it, but to make sure no one else could. So the next time someone scoffs at Indian statecraft, remind them: we cracked open the atom, outfoxed the CIA, kept our doctrine unspoken, and still walked into the world's nuclear club with our head held high. We didn't explode to destroy. We exploded to exist. And that, in the final analysis, is how you detonate a dream.
France 24
40 minutes ago
- Politics
- France 24
'Almost non-stop sirens' across Israel as Iran fires missiles
03:28 23/06/2025 Did US strikes 'finish the job' of destroying Fordow plant? 23/06/2025 Turkey braces for refugees as Iranian flock to borders 23/06/2025 EU urges 'all sides to step back' after US strikes Iran, but can bloc find unified response? 23/06/2025 US warns against Iran retaliation as Trump raises 'regime change' 23/06/2025 Will US strikes be enough to derail Iran's nuclear programme? 23/06/2025 Residents shelter in Tel Aviv as Israel, Iran trade strikes 23/06/2025 How successful were US strikes on Iran? 23/06/2025 'I never expected he would be freed', wife of Belarus opposition leader tells FRANCE 24 23/06/2025 US reveals details of 'Operation Midnight Hammer'
Time of India
an hour ago
- Politics
- Time of India
‘Iran's Nukes Are Still…': Trump Receives SHOCKING From UN Nuclear Watchdog
Iran Launches Waves Of Missile Strikes On Israel, Occupied Territories; IDF Bombards Tehran A stunning dashcam video captured the moment an Iranian ballistic missile struck a major highway in southern Israel, sending debris flying across lanes as civilians scrambled for cover. Moments later, fresh air raid sirens echoed across northern Israel, with the IDF confirming multiple waves of missile launches from Iran. Civilians were ordered to stay in shelters as Israel's air defense systems intercepted some of the threats. The military said around 15 ballistic missiles were launched over a tense 40-minute window, marking one of the most intense barrages of the conflict. While no injuries were immediately reported, impacts were confirmed in several areas, including near Ashdod. Emergency teams rushed to multiple sites as regional tensions soared and fears of wider escalation mounted.#IranMissiles #IranIsraelTensions #OperationMidnightHammer #KhameneiSpeaks #MiddleEastCrisis #TrumpIranStrike #UNEmergency #NuclearStandoff #TelAvivThreat #GlobalEscalation #BreakingNews 20.5K views | 2 hours ago
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former B-2 Pilot Instructor speaks out after Operation Midnight Hammer
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP)- B-2 Bombers returned to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri Sunday. Local politicians speak out on U.S. attack on Iran This following Operation Midnight Hammer. President Donald Trump confirmed the U.S. Launched strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran; Fordo, Natanz & Isfahan. This marks the largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. History. Former B-2 Instructor Pilot, Joseph VanDusen is praising the men and women involved in the mission. VanDusen was a B-2 pilot instructor from 2012 to 2017. 'They've been hand selected to perform this mission. They're America's 911 force and when they're called upon, they will execute at this very high level. They sacrifice many weekends that were lost and family time. All because they are patriots that just love this country' says VanDusen. The B-2 Stealth Bomber has a total of two crew pilots. B-2's are capable of carrying the country's heaviest bombs and nuclear weapons. According to senior Pentagon officials, the day before the mission some of the B-2s took part in a plan involving deception and decoys. This came as news reports on Saturday showed several of them were headed towards Guam. The Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff confiemd that was a 'deception effort' and all part of the mission. 'We train 16-hour plus missions a few times a year. It's not a comfy 787, which I fly right now. They blow up a matress behind the ejection seat and then they sleep there during a mission. You're trying to take a nap and stay fresh during a mission like this and your adrenaline is pumping. At first air fueling you're doing well, then second air refueling you're adjusting and now you're getting jacked up to do the mission and when you come out of that there's a bit of a let down. So when you get out of it you can do what you need to do, but then when you're done with execution, and now you got to make it back home' says VanDusen. The pilots on the seven B-2 Bombers used for the mission in Iran flew for 37 hours non-stop. This marks the longest mission for B-2s Bombers since 2001. VanDusen has also written several books about his experience and life after being a part of the B-2 community including How To Elevate Your Life & Leadership and Stealth Elevate: Warning: Secrets to Annihilate Life, Leadership and Business!. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Politics
- Time of India
The new battlefield: On social media, war plays out through fake news
Early Sunday, US pilots carried out airstrikes on two underground uranium enrichment sites in Iran using 30,000-pound bombs. According to US officials, this move 'devastated the Iranian nuclear programme.' False rumours Soon after the unprecedented attack, rumours of Indian airspace involvement began circulating. Social media reports suggested that Indian airspace had been used by the US to carry out the strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. Social media was filled with unverified posts making this claim. But India's central government quickly stepped in to deny the claims. In an official statement, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) said, 'Several social media accounts have claimed that Indian airspace was used by the United States to launch aircraft against Iran during Operation Midnight Hammer. This claim is FAKE.' This incident is not something new, but yet another example of fake news circulating during moments of high tension. In fact, this is in continuation of the pattern India had already seen in May during Operation Sindoor . Operation Sindoor Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories Back in May, after a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam killed 26 civilians, India and Pakistan came dangerously close to open conflict. But while tensions rose on the ground, a parallel battle played out in cyberspace. Earlier this month, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan revealed that around 15% of the operational time during Operation Sindoor had been spent tackling fake news and misleading content online, as reported by the Times of India. Right after the attack, a flood of false claims began to appear on social media. Some of the most widely shared fake stories included: A supposed fidayeen attack (suicide bombing) on Indian Army forces in the Rajouri region of Jammu and Kashmir. A video showing a massive rocket attack from Pakistan, which was originally a clip from a video game and has been doing the rounds for the past three years. Posts claiming that airports across India had been shut. In reality, only a few airports had temporarily suspended civil flights. The PIB shared a list of affected airports to clear the confusion. A viral WhatsApp message claimed that ATMs would be shut for two to three days due to a cyberattack from Pakistan, which PIB clarified as fake. In addition, fake X (formerly Twitter) accounts pretending to be Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Colonel Sofiya Qureshi gained huge followings, amassing 28.4k and 68k followers, respectively. According to independent watchdog NetBlocks, around 65% of these false posts came from IP addresses traced back to Pakistan, with another 20% linked to unidentified bot accounts. All of this shows how modern conflicts are no longer limited to the battlefield. It has entered cyberspace, attacking the most vulnerable and innocent with misinformation. Narratives now decide the victory, unlike before and gaining control over it seems to be the aim.
